Intense at times, funny at others, Buff Soul is a unique glimpse into the whirlwind of life on tour. The illustrations are distinctive and expressive, with a color palette and texture that brings to mind risograph prints. Moa Romanova’s style depicts exaggerated bodies with large limbs and small heads, so that even if the face is not the focal point in a panel, the hands and body positioning still convey emotion. That being said, I really loved the way facial expressions are illustrated. Humor found in bleak moments is shown with such nuance, it really serves to further express the connection between Moa and Åsa. Flashbacks to a traumatic event in Moa’s life are shown in a different palette and interspersed with the rest of the narrative very effectively. As someone who enjoys graphic novel memoirs, I found myself very invested in this story and art.

I was excited to have an advance copy of this graphic novel and yet this is one of the trickiest reviews I am writing.

The characters features and the proportions make me slightly uncomfortable reading this. Are they distorted to represent the ongoing binge, possibly? The colour palette is fabulous and could read as a graphic novel suitable for a school library - which it definitely isn't!

Who would I recommend it to? I really don't know and this why I couldn't rate it higher. It's a very niche, adult graphic novel.

I thought the title was catchy and I did read what this book would be about. It is not my type of book. The illustrations had me wondering what the pictures were on quite a few pages. I know it is reality of drinking and drugs, but I find it sad, I am glad there was a happy ending.